Never before has Karim Benzema looked so good in the jersey of his new team Al-Ittihad. Against Abha in the Saudi Pro League, the 2022 Ballon d’Or scored his first hat-trick, and for good measure gave an assist, for a victory with a score of 4-2 this Friday evening.
The former Madrilenian, 35, first opened the scoring from the penalty spot (38th). After which, Al-Ittihad was joined after the break thanks to a goal from Karl Toko Ekambi, the former Lyonnais (51st). Then, Benzema delivered an excellent assist to the Brazilian Coronado, for the 2-1 (54th).
Finally, he completed his team’s victory, himself scoring the 3rd and 4th goals for Al-Ittihad after the hour mark (67th and 69th).
With eight goals, the former Real Madrid goalkeeper is in 3rd position in the Sausio Pro League scorer rankings, tied with Talisca (Al-Nasr). Al-Iitthad occupies 5th place in the championship. The Saudi club sacked coach Nuno Esperito Santo on Wednesday after a 2-0 defeat to Iraqi club Al-Qowa Al-Jawija in the Asian Champions League on Monday. Nuno, who coached Wolverhampton Wanderers from 2017 to 2021, had been in charge of Al-Ittihad since July 2022. The former Porto boss led Al-Ittihad to the Saudi Arabian league title last season, but difficult relations have been reported with Benzema. This undoubtedly accelerated his fall.
